In general, an optical fiber patch panel rack assembly includes several adapters for connecting and routing fiber optic cables to each other and various network components. An optical fiber network may have numerous rack assemblies. For example, an optical fiber network of an inter-exchange carrier (“IXC”) may include thousands of rack assemblies and each rack assembly may have as many as one thousand adapters for making fiber connectors.
A common maintenance activity related to fiber networks is determining the source of a power disruption by having a technician unplug a fiber lead, use a power meter to measure the power from the unplugged fiber lead, and then replug the fiber lead. If the troubled path has several fiber connections in serial, the technician has to check each point one by one. The process is time consuming. Moreover, disconnecting and reconnecting a fiber connection does not guarantee the connection is as good as the previous one, hence disconnecting a fiber is not recommended unless it is necessary. Another drawback with the current process is the service disruption created during the unplugging and replugging of the fiber leads.